The Battle of Montebello was fought on 9 June 1800 near Montebello in Lombardy. During the lead-up to the Battle of Marengo, the vanguard of the French army in Italy engaged and defeated an Austrian force in a "glorious victory". Background Napoleon's capture of Milan on 2 June found the Austrian army separated into three major and several minor concentrations. General Michael Melas held Turin with 18,000 men, Feldmarschall-Leutnant (FML) Peter Ott's 16,000 troops remained near Genoa where they secured the surrender of General of Division André Masséna's starving garrison on 4 June, and FML Anton von Elsnitz with 8,000 soldiers retreated from the Riviera. To the east of Milan, FML Josef Philipp Vukassovich had 4,000 men. South of the Po River, FML Andreas O'Reilly von Ballinlough marched east toward Piacenza with 3,000 men. Strong garrisons manned the fortresses of Alessandria, Cuneo and Casale. Melas believed he had plenty of time to mass his army and launch a counter-offensive north from Piacenza. General of Division Jean Lannes moved south from Milan with his corps, seizing Pavia on 3 June and being initially repulsed by Piacenza's tiny 400-man garrison. In a series of operations on 6 June, Generals of Division Joachim Murat and Jean Boudet ferried their troops across the Po to the east of Piacenza while Lannes crossed the Po to the west of the city. Murat then overran Piacenza while Lannes pushed O'Reilly back to the west. These actions placed French forces directly on the main Austrian line of communication between Alessandria and Mantua in the strategic Stradella defile. Meanwhile, Murat captured a set of Austrian dispatches that disclosed that Genoa had fallen. Confronted with a new situation, Napoleon issued orders to press the Austrians. On 7 June, Ott's column was marching north from Genoa. Ott's corps reached Voghera at 8 pm on 8 June to join O'Reilly. A patrol reported French troops to the east. Ott directed O'Reilly with six infantry battalions and four cavalry squadrons to defend the village of Casteggio on the main east-west highway. Meanwhile, the French army became overextended. Believing that his enemies could not be in strength, Napoleon sent a note to Lannes, "If troops should present themselves between Voghera and Stradella let them be attacked without caution; they are, certainly, fewer than 10,000 men." Lannes planned to continue marching west. This would bring his 8,000 men into contact with Ott's corps of